As I watched Variety’s Golden Globes pre-show coverage, I witnessed my fellow journalism peers reading stats from one of the night’s sponsors, Polymarket, an online betting platform.
The stats moved across the screen as if I was watching SportsCenter. The Globes also decided to stick with their Google Maps approach as they pointed out where each nominee was sitting in the Beverly Hilton ballroom as they announced the awards. I didn’t mind that too much, but the shroud of live commentary provided more of a desperate way to fill silence than a worthwhile play-by-play.
It was unnecessary.
Along with the commentary, Polymarket, Kleber Mendonça Filho being the only director to be played off during his acceptance speech, not airing Sinners maestro Ludwig Göransson‘s acceptance speech for Best Original Score, the weird UFC plug, and their random TRL playlist, the Golden Globes reflected the current state of this world: it’s shit, but they tried their best to distract us with glitzy nonsense — not to mention the vapid category of “Best Podcast” and the purposeless Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award. The Golden Globes have gone from giving “Budget Academy Awards” to “Bargain Bin Cable Ace Awards”.
It’s not as if the Golden Globes had a spotless reputation beforehand. Let’s take a look at the recent history of this awards ceremony, starting with how Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries acquired the Globes after the HFPA dissolved. And guess what? Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Corporation (PMC), which also owns Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, and numerous other publications.
That said, there’s an ongoing debate about whether or not it is ethical for a media conglomerate like PMC to own a major awards show and credibly cover it without conflicts.
I would say no.
The Hollywood trades are marketing machines that put more emphasis on supporting the Hollywood system rather than actual journalism. I should know because I worked at one.
On one note, the dissolving of the HFPA tempers the corruption, racism, misogyny, gift-giving bribery, clout chasing, shadiness, and star fuckery that once went along with the non-profit HFPA. With the acquisition, the whole ordeal has shifted to a for-profit structure. I do appreciate the attempt to bring some sort of integrity to this awards show… but it’s a very lazy attempt.
The Golden Globes is owned by a corporate group that has a stronghold on the editorial perception of the awards show because they own the trades, except for The Wrap. Because of this, this corporate media group can create editorial firewalls, influence coverage of other non-trade publications, and is given incentives to promote the Globes’ relevance and legitimacy — because everyone needs to be on Polymarket, right?
The original HFPA had lots of problems. This new iteration of the Golden Globes helps clear some of those problems, but introduced new — and possibly more problematic issues. This is no reflection of the talent being honored. This is more about corporate interference and the posturing of art.
It wasn’t too long ago when the Los Angeles Times published two articles that called out the HFPA for its corruption. They were also dragged for the lack of diversity, specifically Black members.
Thus began the downfall of the organization, as long-time HFPA member and former president Philip Berk was expelled for sending a racist email describing Black Lives Matter as a “racist hate movement.” He also criticized BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors for buying a home in Topanga Canyon.
The HFPA tried their darndest to change things, but before they could, Amazon and Netflix distanced themselves from them, and NBC decided against airing the 2022 Golden Globes. Even publicists turned on them.
That was then. It’s 2026, and it seems like the Globes are and will forever be an awards show where the press and the prize are both in Jay Penske’s corporate media back pocket.
The Golden Globes are just one of the many award ceremony pit stops that occur along the way to the big show: the Academy Awards. Even before the Golden Globes, there are the Critics Choice Awards, which I was at this year.
As I sat at the No Other Choice table on my best behavior in front of director Park Chan-wook and icon Lee Byung-hun, I was excited to be at a table with Asians because this year’s awards season is making me flashback to 2015 when April Reign’s #OscarsSoWhite campaign became the talk of the town.
It made me remember my time at Deadline and when I was the resident “diversity reporter” that did representation recap for every major awards ceremony, noting the “firsts” and other groundbreaking moments that would drive traffic to the PMC shingle. Each year, it seemed like I was writing the same thing: “We have come a long way, but we have a long way to go!” when it comes to diversity. With the current state of DEI in this world and corporate entities’ fear of entertaining anything that’s not white, male, hetero, cis, and mainstream (aka boring), that journey has basically come to a screeching halt.
This year’s nomination list on the film side of the CCAs did not include many people of color or much diversity in the acting categories at all save Michael B. Jordan and Wunmi Mosaku, Miles Canton, from Sinners; Wagner Moura fromThe Secret Agent; Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another; Shannon Mahina Gorman from Rental Family; and Nina Ye from Left-Handed Girl. Out of all of them, Miles Canton won.
The CCAs TV categories were far more colorful, but TV tends lean more inclusive, more or less. As for the films, you can’t have a diverse list of nominees if the titles coming out don’t have much diversity to begin with.
In addition to Canton, Sinners director/screenwriter Ryan Coogler nabbed Best Original Screenplay, moving that diversity needle a smidge when it came to CCA winners in film. We can also thank KPop Demon Hunters (Best Animated Feature) and The Secret Agent (Best Foreign Language Film)for adding some literal color to the mix.
Yes, there is a peppering of POC — but peppering does not a diverse Hollywood make. This year’s award season is giving a patronizing “I’m not racist, I have a Black friend!” energy with Sinners and“Where are you REALLY from?” energy with Kpop Demon Hunters. The winners are predominantly white because the nomination list was predominantly white. I am no math whiz, but I think this equals #AnotherAwardsSeasonSoWhite.
It’s giving tokenization.
This carried over to the Golden Globes, which included Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) and Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) being the sole AOC (Actors of Color) to win. This leads to an article that I wrote in 2021 (I revisited it a lot for this article) titled “The Great Awards Show Reformation: Hollywood Accolades And White Validation,” and how not a lot has changed, and how it looks like proof that #OscarsStayWhite.
There was a moment when it felt like we were getting somewhere. There was an uptick in representation across the board, and in 2021, we saw the highest rates. According to the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, of all the Oscar nominations that year, 24% were non-white. From there, it plummeted to about 15% in 2022 and stayed rather stagnant until 2024, when it jumped to a little over 20%. And in 2025, a disappointing 12.5% of the nominees were non-white.
Despite some year-to-year improvements, the Oscars still fall far short of population parity. Nominees of color remain significantly underrepresented compared to the U.S. population. That said, the Academy Awards remain overwhelmingly white and male compared to the country’s demographics.
In the aforementioned article, journalist Brooke Obie said on Tre’vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill’s FANTI Podcast that it might be time for traditionally excluded communities to divest from the Oscars. It makes sense because they were a ceremony with only white people in mind. There are enough people of color, LGBTQ organizations, and associations in Hollywood that represent underrepresented voices to create new systems and institutions that celebrate the art and work of underrepresented communities. And perhaps we start divesting from the Golden Globes, too.
Artist Charles Gaines once said: “Marginalization is a word with two edges: as we use it to attack racism, we wound our villain downstroke, but each time we raise the sword for ourselves we wound ourselves… and there is no possible victory, for to be marginal is to be in the battle.”
Don’t get me wrong, the underrepresented have made many strides, but perhaps that really doesn’t matter anymore. How could you make “strides” in the master’s house and actually win?
Representation for marginalized voices will forever be a battle — in Hollywood and beyond —unless the world stops being racist, homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic. I really don’t see that happening any time soon.
After #OscarsSoWhite in 2015, there seemed to be forward momentum in diversity, with the mantra “Representation Matters” echoing not only in Hollywood but in the world. “Woke” became part of the American lexicon and was weaponized by bigots, and the film and TV industry was banking on diversity.
In 2018, Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther and Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians were released within a month of each other, empowering two diasporic communities. It was a cultural reset of sorts, breaking the mold of the portrayal of characters that would otherwise be stereotypical if told through a white Hollywood lens.
Black Panther grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing solo superhero film at the time. It was also the first superhero to earn over $700 million domestically. Coogler’s and the late Chadwick Boseman’s foray into the MCU earned seven Oscar nominations that year, including being the first superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture. Out of the seven nominations, they ended up winning three, two of them being historic. Ruth E. Carter became the first Black woman to win Best Costume Design, while Hannah Beachler became the first Black woman to be nominated AND win in Production Design. Last and certainly not least, the great Ludwig Göransson also won for Best Original Score.
Crazy Rich Asians grossed over $238 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. The movie became the highest-grossing romantic comedy in a decade. It was the first major Hollywood studio film in 25 years with a majority Asian cast since Joy Luck Club in 1993. Crazy Rich Asians broke stereotypes, increased opportunities for more AAPI actors in Hollywood, and italso became part of the awards season conversation during that time. Although it didn’t nab any Oscar nominations, it received noms at the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes, among others.
The successes of Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians are the epitome of “Doing twice the work to get half as far.”
This brings us back to the Globes mess that happened on Sunday. It felt delusional as everyone kept it politics-free and coyly safe, making it seem like this was an extravaganza of delusion and a ceremony out of touch with the world, as Hollywood continues to descend into an edifice complex.
This was especially evident with the loud silence surrounding the events of the world, including the recent murders of Renee Macklin Good and Keith Porter at the hands of ICE. No matter where your politics land, isn’t it just human to have empathy for two lives that were unjustly taken in a time where no one — including many people in that room at the Beverly Hilton — is safe in a country that is insanely divided and run by an administration that constantly attacks the most vulnerable people in our community.
I’m not asking for a town hall during the Golden Globes; I’m asking for empathy, which I realize is in short supply in Hollywood. There felt like there was a blatant void of humanity during the telecast. As an industry that is visible to the world, the Golden Globes is a platform that could do something to bolster advocacy and awareness of issues that are explored through themes in film, TV, and other storytelling avenues.
… but boot-licking to be in line with the cowardly consensus of conservative silence loves to reign supreme in Hollywood.
It was less of a missed opportunity and more like a dismissed opportunity.
However, we were so lucky to have wonderful moments like Adolescence’s Stephen Graham shouting out Queen Latifah during his acceptance speech, Wanda Sykes accepting Ricky Gervais’s trophy and thanking God and the trans community, and Nikki Glaser dragging the fuck out of CBS and saying “Nikki B. Jerking” in response to Michael B. Jordan’s hotness.
Reminders of hope and glimmers of humanity were provided by Sykes, Mark Ruffalo, Jean Smart, Natasha Lyonne, Ariana Grande, Tessa Thompson, and Bella Ramsey as they donned pins with the messages “ICE OUT” and “BE GOOD,” paying tribute to the late Good and Porter. The ACLU-endorsed campaign that was organized by a group of entertainment industry professionals with support from Maremoto, Move On, National Domestic Workers Alliance, and Working Families Power.
It’s time to restructure Hollywood and how we approach awards season. It will take time, but why not start by getting rid of the Golden Globes? If anything, the Golden Globes help set a narrative for awards contenders and aren’t a reliable touchstone for an Oscar win. True to the PMC brand, it’s a marketing machine. Of the awards ceremonies they are the most hollow and redundant.
The Critics Choice Awards, other critic circle awards, as well as guild awards from SAG, PGA, DGA, and the WGA, have proven to be greater indicators of Oscar winners — not all the time, but sure as hell more than the Golden Globes.
Not only do the Golden Globes differ structurally, culturally, and strategically from how the Academy votes. The Golden Globes are generally voted on by non-peers and fuel themselves on star power and tacky capitalism. Meanwhile, guild awards and the CCAs tend to have more impact because they reflect how the Academy actually thinks and votes. Guild awards mirror Oscar categories, while the CCAs lean towards winners to Academy-friendly consensus picks.
The Golden Globes remind me of that thirsty, unpopular person trying desperately to be part of the cool clique in high school, so they go their way into popularity. It’s totally the plot of Can’t Buy Me Love. The Globes are nothing but hype man of awards ceremonies— and that’s not necessarily a good thing. I mean, Diddy was also known as a hype man, and we saw what happened to him.
